


You're Freaking Outtakes

by Sarah_Sandwich



Series: Freak Out Verse [3]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Harley Keener as Iron Lad, Light Angst, M/M, excerpts only, not a full fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28109055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarah_Sandwich/pseuds/Sarah_Sandwich
Summary: ***NOT A FULL FIC***These are the outtakes from You're Freaking Out. I had to scrap my plot halfway through writing and these are the excerpts that got cut in the process. Contents include but are not limited to:◇ Peter in the Spider-Verse with Gwen and Miles (before I realized it was bad bc it needed  MJ)◇ An outbreak in NYC a la Demon Breath from the ps4 SM game (also the reason I had to change the plot--waaaayyy too similar to real life to be enjoyable)◇ Sick/hospitalized Aunt May :( she gets better I promise◇ Harley and Peter go on a drive for Mental Health™ reasons
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker
Series: Freak Out Verse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713709
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	You're Freaking Outtakes

**Author's Note:**

> None of this has been truly edited so it is what it is. There are only a few full scenes. Otherwise there are little snippets of dialogue and me talking myself through what the main hits are going to be for a particular scene. If nothing else, this is a fun little insight to my chaotic writing process lmao There's no shame in skimming for the meaty bits!

_Kill your darlings:_

1\. (idiomatic) To remove unnecessary sentences, characters, or storylines—of which you are fond—from a creative work for the sake of the overall story

2\. “Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” - Stephen King

*Law&Order voice*

**These are my darlings**

*dun dun*

Were there any others?”

He shrugs. “Depends on if you count Family and Consumer Sciences as a real class.”

Peter frowns at him and then down at his chicken salad and then back at Harley. “You’re telling me you flunked cooking class?”

“The teacher was a real douche. And it wasn’t just cooking. There was stuff like sewing and budgeting and child care too.”

“So that’s where you learned how to sew—,” Peter cuts himself off with a gasp. “Did you have to take care of a flour sack child?”

Harley laughs. “It was a potato and that’s actually why I failed the class.”

“Oh my God. Tell me everything.”

“You remember my potato launcher?”

“Tell me you didn’t. Oh my God, Ned is gonna love this story.”

Harley smirks. “I really hated that teacher.”

Peter giggles and Harley can’t help the warm light feeling that starts at his toes and fills him until he’s overflowing with it.

“What’d you do? Just launch in into a tree?” He points his fork at him sternly. “I need details, Keener!”

Harley pulls a face. “Nah, that would’ve been too simple. I uh, might have inspired a class-wide rebellion.”

 _“What?!_ Details. Now.” He crams another forkful into his mouth and leans forward to listen, eyes bright and eager.

“I mean, it didn’t take much. They were pretty much ready to throw down at that point anyway. All I did was provide the means. And by means, obviously I’m talking about the potato launcher.”

“You’re being so frustratingly vague,” Peter complains. “Does Abbie know about this? Or Keaton? I could have F.R.I.D.A.Y. get his contact info and ask him. I bet he knows.”

Harley pulls a face. “Don’t do that. There’s just not a lot to tell. We got assigned a potato and we were supposed to take care of it for a week. Flour sacks were too messy and potatoes were dirt cheap. Normally, they had these doll things but someone nicked them over the summer and new ones weren’t in the budget. Not that that stopped them from getting new uniforms for the football team but whatever. So I did what any self-respecting American would do and brought my potato launcher to school and talked the class into protesting by launching their potato children into the side of the building. No big.”

Peter chokes on his chicken salad. “And they just did it? What kind of speech did you have to give to get the whole class to jeopardize their grades like that?”

“Okay first of all, it was Family and Consumer Science. Literally nobody gave a shit about that class. We were all there so we could slack off for 45 minutes and sometimes get to eat in class. All I did was show up with a potato launcher and say something like ‘fuck this actually’ and then everyone was like, ‘Yeah!’ and that was it. They probably were more interested in shooting a potato out of a cannon than they were in protesting shit.”

“Wow. Just like Braveheart.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When he was a kid he used to count everything. He’d forgotten that was a thing he did. It lasted years. Drove Mama crazy. He’d count the freckles on Abbie’s face, the moles on Mama’s arms, the cracks in the sidewalk, the ants in the sink. He once tried to count all the hairs on Abbie’s head. He didn’t even make it to 2,000 before she threatened to deck him if he didn’t stop touching her and let her focus on beating the lava level in Super Mario 64.

But mostly he counted time. He’d count the minutes it took to drive from their house into town and if his final count didn’t match the time on the clock he’d insist it was the clock that was wrong. He’d count how long it took the lady at Great Clips to cut his ma’s hair… and then Abbie’s… and then his. He’d always brag that his hair cuts took the least time by more than half and it infuriated Abbie to the point where she started only getting trims to try and beat his time. She kept it up for until her hair almost reached her backside. She had it all cut off one particularly hot summer and donated all 16 3/4 inches, leaving her with a short bob that she hated with a passion.

He’d count the seconds it took to roast a marshmallow to golden perfection over the campfire, the minutes it took to complete his morning chores, the hours it took to build his first potato gun, the days it took for the latest Batman comic to arrive in their mailbox, the months it took for Tony to contact him again after remodeling his garage, the years it took for his dad to come home…

He stopped counting after his internal clock hit ten years. He figured a decade was long enough for him to wait and long enough for his dad to forget the family he’d abandoned in their dusty little town. Shortly after that, he stopped counting altogether. Annoying his family had been something he could accept and even enjoy most days, but the jeering mockery of his peers had hurt far more than he’d anticipated.

He eventually learned to tune them out but that took a little longer and there were pieces of himself that he lost in the process. Counting was one of them. Chattering another. His unapologetic curiosity was yet a third. Growing up is hard. He feels robbed if he thinks about it too much, those lost pieces of himself that he destroyed in order to fit in. Maybe they’re not destroyed though. Maybe they can be reclaimed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steal suit from Peter B. Rest. In the morning…

The suit fits poorly.

“Is this really just spandex?” Peter asks. It’s hard to tell what with it being a weird 2-D cartoon material, but he’s pretty sure it’s just regular stretchy spandex. He hikes the pants up again. There’s no way he can swing around like this without exposing himself. Like, not secret-identity exposure. More like indecent exposure.

“This isn’t gonna work,” Other Miles says, echoing Peter’s thoughts. Him and Gwen are standing shoulder-to-shoulder looking Peter up and down with complementary expressions of regret and discomfort while Peter holds up his pants. Not only are they too loose, they’re too long and scrunch around his ankles much like his sleeves scrunch uncomfortably around his elbows so they don’t get in the way of his web-shooters.

After a pregnant pause, Gwen says, “I need a needle and thread.”

“Oh God.”

~*~

“AYE YO, SPIDER-MAN!”

He whips over to a building and sticks to the wall as he looks down to find who’s shouting at him. He can’t ignore someone who might need his help whether he’s this universe’s Spider-Man or not.

There’s something of a crowd on the sidewalk, but only a few faces are looking up at him as most bustle along.

“Did they let you go? I knew it wasn’t you doing that stuff!”

He sees her then—a lanky dark-eyed teen staring up at him with a grin. He gives her a thumbs up and her grin widens.

That’s the weirdest part of pretending to be some-Spidey he’s not. Gwen told him not to talk to anyone because he doesn’t sound anything like Peter B. but it seems incongruous with who he is, who _Spider-Man_ is, to not chatter or at least say hi. Someone pulls out their phone and that’s his cue to skedaddle. He can pass as this universe’s Spider-Man so long as he’s a blue and red blur swinging down the street but the illusion isn’t going to hold up in a photo compare.

He gives a little wave to the girl and then fires a web at the lip of the roof above him and yanks, pulling himself up and out of sight. Okay. He’s been out for about an hour. That should be long enough to—

His Spidey sense flares and without a thought, he flings himself in the direction it tells him to go, which happens to be over the edge of the roof.

~*~

His Spidey sense flares and without a thought, he flings himself in the direction it tells him to go, which happens to be over the edge of the roof. He sees the car speeding at the crowd on the sidewalk before anyone else seems to realize what’s happening.

“Spidey!” The teenage girl from before crows in delight as he lands behind her, putting himself between her and the street. “What are you—,”

She cuts off with a gasp in the same moment the driver of the car looks up from his phone and his eyes go wide as they meet Spider-Man’s. There’s no time to hit the break but Peter’s feet are planted and his legs are braced so when the car ramps the curb he’s ready and he catches it. Plastic crunches under his hands with a loud crack and he skids back as people scream and scramble away. He knocks into someone and they hit the ground.

Grunting, he fights the forward momentum of the car and wins. He tries to lower the front end gently to the ground but the plastic bumper rips off in his hands and car drops to ground with a jarring bounce. He can’t see the driver beyond the airbag. He’ll check on him in a minute. He sets the bumper on the ground in front of the car and turns to check on the people behind him. Most of them are gone, run off down the sidewalk where they can stare at the scene in safety but the teen from before is on the ground, staring up at the car frozen mid-crab crawl backward.

“Are you okay?” Peter asks and then kicks himself. Fuck! He wasn’t supposed to talk.

She stares up at him with wide-eyes.

“Hey.” He squats down beside her and offers a hand. “It’s okay. Are you hurt?”

She shakes her head and takes his hand. He helps her to her feet and is about to go check on the driver when she speaks. “Tomorrow’s my mom’s birthday. I almost died and her birthday is—,” she cuts off with a sharp inhale and swallows what looks to Peter like a sob.

“Tell her happy birthday from me, okay?”

She laughs as a tear springs free and she swipes it away. “Who are you? You’re not Spider-Man.”

“Am too,” Peter says. He bites his lip and then confesses, “I’m just not your Spider-Man.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“It’s a big universe out there but uh, I was in the neighborhood and heard your Spidey could use some help so I’m here to help. I promise I’m not here to cause any trouble. I just want to help.”

She glances at the car and then back to him. “I believe you. Thanks.”

“Anytime, seriously. Are you gonna be okay? Is there someone you can call?”

“I’m good.” She takes a step back and manages a wobbly smile. “I just need like, a minute. Thanks Spidey.”

Peter starts backing towards the driver door as he says, “Eat some cake for me.”

“Oh uh, we do Brigadeiros instead of cake.”

He stops. “Those little bon-bon things? Oh man, I haven’t had those since Mrs. Carvalho moved out of our complex. Ugh, I’m gonna be thinking about them all day now.”

She cracks a smile. “I’ll eat a couple for you.”

He pouts despite knowing the expression won’t come across through the mask. “I like the ones with walnuts on the outside.”

She laughs. “Alright. I’ll make sure to eat one with walnuts.”

“Nice. Thanks!”

The driver is a little disoriented but otherwise unhurt and keeps up a steady stream of apologies as Peter helps him out of the driver seat.

“Don’t text and drive,” Peter says, trying to deepen his voice. He gets a weird look from the driver and a few passersby who have already moved on from all the excitement and are resuming their day.

Time for him to go before he can do more damage to their plan.

~*~

“You made the news,” Gwen says before his feet even hit the roof. Her tone is flat and he can’t tell if she’s pissed at him or not.

“No one got a picture, right?” Usually his Spidey sense warns him about that sort of thing but when there’s a bigger threat—like say, a car about to ram a cluster of pedestrians—it can get lost in the noise.

“No,” Other Miles says and Peter breathes a little easier.

It’s not great that he’s on the news but at least they don’t have a photo to tip off Chameleon that he’s not the real deal. He’s not sure how this is going to look for Peter B. though. Are the cops going to think Peter B. isn’t the real Spidey now? That wouldn’t be too hard to prove—all he’d have to do is scale a wall—but he probably won’t be released either way. They still haven’t disproved that he was the one committing the crimes.

“You were supposed to keep a low profile,” Gwen tells him.

“Would you have ignored—,”

“No.” She sighs. “Sorry, I’m just tired of our plans never working.”

“It could still work,” Peter says, defensive. “Maybe he’ll see the news and that’ll be what gets him to come out.”

“Or maybe the police will make a statement that they still have the real Spider-Man in custody and to be on the lookout for an impostor.”

Peter winces. Yeah that wouldn’t be great.

“Chameleon will disappear if he catches wind that we’re here,” Miles says.

“Maybe… we could get the cops in on our plan?”

Miles and Gwen look at him with raised eyebrows. Yeah, okay. What a bummer that across four Spidey universes, none of them have good relations with the police. Then again, they’re vigilantes so maybe that shouldn’t be such a surprise.

“So what now?”

Gwen shrugs and trades a glance with Miles. “Wait and see, I guess. Stick to the plan and see if it pans out.”

“Improvise when it doesn’t,” Miles says.

Peter smiles back. Sounds like his kind of plan.

~*~

They spread out across the city, sticking to rooftops to avoid being seen and listening for disturbances. He’s able to connect Karen to the police scanner so he idly listens to the chatter as he leaps from roof to roof, forcing himself to ignore the mundane calls that come through that he’d normally help out with but clearly aren’t the work of a Spider-Man impersonator. Miles and Gwen are doing the same with the portable scanners they nicked from Peter B.’s place and are ready to call him the moment they spot something, but it’s been two hours now and they’ve got nothing.

They figure if Chameleon doesn’t show his face by morning then they’ll need to rework their plan. As it is, every second that ticks by is another that Peter knows everyone back home is worried about him. He wishes he could get a message back to them, then he’d at least be able to concentrate on their plan without worrying about how long this is taking. Still, one day isn’t too bad. If they wrap this up soon then he can get home and explain before they really start panicking. If he’s lucky the time passage difference won’t be too drastic.

He snorts. Yeah. Okay. Since when has he ever been lucky?

As if to prove his point, he glitches midway between buildings, electricity locking his muscles and dropping him like a rock. By the time he comes out of it he barely has time to grapple onto the lip of the roof and avoid plummeting two stories to the street below. With effort, he hauls himself onto the roof and flops onto his back. He sucks in a tight breath and prods his aching ribs. They ache dully from slamming into the unforgiving brick but don’t seem to be broken.

The glitching is a problem. It’s becoming more frequent and each glitch seems to last longer than the one before it. He really needs to get home, but he can’t leave without seeing this through. An innocent man is in jail and he’s one of only a few that can help clear his name. He has to do what he can, even if that means painful glitching and worried loved ones. It’s only a day. Maybe two. He can handle it. They can handle it, even if they shouldn’t have to.

He gets back up.

“A burglary was just reported in Greenwich,” Karen says. “The perpetrator appears to be Spider-Man.”

Finally.

“Call Miles and Gwen. Let’s finish this.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Here’s where the plot diverges.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony freaks out. Doesn’t want Miles in the info dump meeting after they interrogate Rhino, but Peter insists he be there.

“I won’t send him out there with only half the information. It’s too dangerous.”

“I agree, it’s too dangerous. Neither of you should be out there.”

“Don’t. Don’t do this. I don’t want Miles out there any more than you do but there’s nothing I can do to stop him.”

Tony nods like he expected nothing less although the pinch of his lips doesn’t ease. “I suppose I can’t stop you either.”

“This is my responsibility. I started this. I have to see it through.”

“You literally didn’t start anything.”

“It’s because of me.”

“Completely inaccurate. You’re making things up to feel guilty about now. You should talk to a therapist.”

“I’m being serious, Mr. Stark.”

“I think I am too. We all need therapy after the shit we’ve been through. Maybe it’s time I hired someone. An official shrink for the Avengers.”

Peter clears his throat.

“And Avenger-adjacent individuals,” Tony adds, rolling his eyes. “Hell, I’ll even toss an invite to that freaky devil guy in Hell’s kitchen. And God knows Deadpool could use some psychiatric help. Actually, scratch that. I don’t think anyone’s qualified to handle his brand of crazy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harley doesn’t fuck around with driving to Rose Hill this time around and graciously accepts Tony’s offer to have Happy fly him home in the private jet. He thought about driving for about two seconds before realizing it’d be way too depressing without Peter. Their roadtrip over their summer coupled with those 16 miserable days in November when Peter had been missing make it too painful to even consider. He already knows he’s going to have a hard time sleeping. He doesn’t need to add 22 hours in the car by himself thinking about how Peter isn’t with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas. Harley goes to Keaton’s going away party.

“Where’s your boy? Thought I told you to bring him.”

“He’s busy.”

Keaton’s air of arrogance deflates. “I guess he is, yeah. What the hell’s going on up there? It’s all over the news that there’s quarantines and shit going on but no one says what’s causing it.”

Harley just shakes his head. He can’t talk about it here where anyone could overhear. “Don’t worry about it. It’s… a New York problem.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hopeless Romantic!Peter sets up Christmas surprise for Harley! It’s sweet and ridiculously elaborate and is ruined when he calls him in a panic because May gets sick.

While Peter and Harley are separated over winter break (Harley in Rose Hill and Peter in NYC dealing with the outbreak) they snap each other incessantly and save/screen shot nearly every photo/video they send each other. Harley has an especially hard time since he’s still getting his feet under him after Peter’s disappearance into the Spiderverse. Peter does fine during the day. He’s so busy with Spider-Man that he honestly doesn’t think about Harley not being in town that much.

But when he goes back to the tower and no one is waiting for him with dinner and a witty comment, he feels his absence like a punch to the gut. The second night alone he has a nightmare and doesn’t handle it well. It’s been so long since he’s had any nightmares he’s not used to it. Hasn’t really had any since he started sleeping with Harley every night. Not bad ones anyway. Takes him by surprise.

After the first few days, he goes home to Queens and stays with May and that’s better. The apartment in Queens isn’t as marked by Harley and if he’s being honest, it’s nice getting to see May everyday. He’s missed her.

It’s good that he’s staying with her. Otherwise, who knows how long it would’ve been before someone found her unconscious on the kitchen floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hanging on by a thread. If he’s not at school or visiting May, he’s in his suit patrolling and searching. Those people in the sewer back in August. He knows they have something to do with this. Rhino told him. He told him and Peter didn’t listen.

He’s trying. He’s trying so hard but he’s not getting anywhere. He’s a dog chasing his tail. He’s staying out too late. He comes home to find Harley passed out on the couch or face down at the kitchen table more often than not. He tells him he shouldn’t wait up but he’s just as stubborn and tells him to quit bossing him around.

People losing homes. City shutting down. So many homeless. Pepper and Mr. Stark open more and more shelters. Spider-Man is a frequent visitor, helping out and raising moral. Both Spider-Mans.

Things are getting bad. Infrastructure is falling apart. City is falling apart. He just wants to fix it. He wants this to end. He wants May to wake up. He can’t do it. He can’t. He’s not good enough. He’s tearing apart at the seams.

Peter loses his backpack.... It had 3 textbooks in it. He is devastated. It’s another straw and the camel’s back can’t take much more. He promised Harley if he took them he wouldn’t lose them and yet here he is. He’s such a fuck up.

That night someone jumps and he doesn’t get to them in time. He goes home early, surprises the hell out of Harley who thinks he’s seriously hurt, which he is… just not physically.

“What happened?”

“He just… he jumped. I was too far away. I-,” he sucks in a sharp breath, staving off tears, but then Harley’s there, wrapping him in his arms and tucking him against his neck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I don’t hate myself so much when I’m with you.”

“Hate yourself? Baby, no. No, no Peter.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t. Don’t do that. I love you. God, Peter I love you enough for both of us and then some, but please don’t hate yourself. You’re a better person than anyone I’ve ever met.

Harley's quiet for a minute. "You know, before... everything... I thought you were perfect."

"You... What? Why?"

"Mhmm. You seemed like you had it all together. You've got Tony wrapped around your finger. He never got upset with you for being late or not showing up. Guess that makes sense now. And everyone else here loves you. Made it seem like there wasn't enough room for me or something. Like I couldn't compete because no one would even let me in the ring."

"That's dumb," Peter says without thinking

"Gee, thanks ."

"No, I mean, everyone loves you. You fit in right away and you and Tony... It made me so mad that he just accepted you as an equal right away while he still treated me like a dumb kid. And everyone else too. Like, I've got all these enhanced abilities and you're just a normal guy but I've got a curfew and baby monitor protocols and you get to do what you want and come and go as you please."

"To be fair, I'm not going around picking a fight with all of New York's petty criminals."

"Yeah I know but still! He was so condescending at times." Peter sighs. "I guess now you know I'm not perfect. Not by a long shot."

"Hmm I dunno. You seem pretty perfect to me."

Once things settle he tells him about the textbooks. Harley exasperated but can’t be mad. Luckily, he has a secret backup textbook cache that he hadn’t told Peter about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s getting real bad. Schools are closing down, switching to online classes only. People are leaving town. His parents get sick. Moves in with uncle Aaron who he’s been suspicious of since Other Miles told him about his Uncle Aaron, but what choice does he have?

Goes to Peter and Harley. They do what they can to comfort him, but they’re already doing everything they can to figure this out and Peter looks like shit. It’s not as noticeable when they patrol together and he wears his mask, but face-to-face it’s obvious he’s not doing well. Which… isn’t surprising considering his aunt has been in a coma for months now.

Pepper’s super pregnant. Tony’s stressed as fuck. Miles and Peter meet most nights to compare notes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When things get really hard and the future is bleak and Peter and Miles wonder what they're even hoping to accomplish by going out every night, they pick a rooftop, a low one, and sit very still and they listen.

The streets are empty and the sidewalks clear, but within the walls around them, there's life. There's a woman singing softly under her breath, someone playing the piano, children's giggles accompanied by splashes, a man speaking to his mom over the phone.

It's everywhere. All around them. And they find the strength to go on.

~ **Peter** ~

S.H.E.I.L.D. comes in and tries to bench Spider-Man. They imply that it’s his fault it got this bad. That he should have stopped it. Peter doesn’t disagree, but he doesn’t quit either. He can’t. His city is suffering. His aunt is suffering. Miles’s parents are suffering. They _need_ Spider-Man.

Schools close. People are advised to stay home as often as they can. Businesses close. People pack up and leave the city. People are evicted and forced to live on the streets when they can no longer pay their bills because they lost their job due to their employer closing their doors or leaving the city. It’s hell. Peter feels responsible but what more can he do?

Harley says something that gets Peter thinking and then he does something sort of crazy. He’s always been aware of the other vigilantes in the city but they’ve never interacted. He’s seen them in passing, but they all have pretty clear territories under their protection and there hasn’t been any reason to shake that up (Also they’re kind of intimidating). Peter tracks down Daredevil and asks to team up and share intel. For the sake of the city they’ve got to figure this out and working together just might be the way to crack the case.

Daredevil is reluctant to say the least but eventually Peter wears him down by appealing to his need to protect Hell’s Kitchen.

Daredevil has way more connections than Peter does (lol okay mr avenger) and it makes him feel like a child running around playing pretend at being a superhero but he swallows his pride and shares what little information he can contribute

They don’t get very far with it but it feels like progress and gives Peter something resembling hope that they can figure this out. The biggest thing is that Daredevil knows that Alchemx (partnered with Oscorp) is behind the outbreak he just doesn’t know where their secret lab is or where Fisk is hiding.

Peter’s grand idea is to have Tony and Harley try to create the portal into the spiderverse (which Tony has already been working on just for fun and because he thinks that it could crack the code to teleportation) and ask Gwen, Peter B., and Miles2 if this has happened in any of their universes. He shares this idea with Daredevil which leads to a lot of questions about the multiverse and Peter basically having the Avengers in his back pocket.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ **Harley** ~

Worried about situation in general but mostly about Peter and how hard he’s pushing himself. Tries not to think about May too much. It terrifies him what losing her might do to Peter. He’s scared to lose her himself, but he’s afraid of what losing his last link to his parents and uncle will do to Peter. He’s already not handling it well.

All the schools in Queens, Hell’s Kitchen, and Brooklyn close when the outbreak reaches its peak. Unfortunately, Cooper Union is in Midtown which hasn’t been hit as hard so Harley and Peter are still stuck pulling double-duty. There’s talk that they’re preparing to convert classes to online courses if it comes to that but so far Midtown hasn’t suffered as much as other boroughs.

Does what he can to distract him. Keep him from dwelling. Their free time is spent in the garage rather than the lab. Harley told him almost a year ago that he’s going to teach Peter about cars and it’s about time he made good on it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Let’s go for a drive,” Harley says, interrupting the silence. They’re in the living room on opposite ends of the couch and Harley’s feet are tucked under Peter’s thigh. Peter got back from patrolling a little over an hour ago and they’re supposed to be finishing their homework but neither of them are making much progress.

“What?” Peter asks fuzzily. He’s been staring at the same page for the past twenty minutes and he looks like hell. The bags under his eyes should be paying rent.

“Let’s go for a drive,” Harley repeats. “Me and you.”

Peter blinks at him. “It’s like… two in the morning.”

Harley raises an eyebrow but doesn’t inform him that it’s actually closer to three. “So? I got headlights. C’mon. Put that away.”

Peter looks down at his textbook and then back at Harley. “But…”

“No buts. Seriously, I’ve gotta get out of here before I lose my mind and don’t try to tell me you’re not feeling the same way. It’s been too long since we did anything other than work. We need this.”

“I dunno,” Peter mutters. His brow is wrinkled in that way that means he’s over-thinking it. “It doesn’t feel right.”

Harley holds back a sigh. Between school and New York’s never-ending contamination crisis they haven’t had time to catch their breath let alone do anything for themselves but it wouldn’t surprise him if Peter was using their busy schedules to keep himself from doing anything halfway enjoyable while May is in the hospital. His guilt complex is vast and hopelessly interwoven into his every thought and action but it’s simple to identify once you know what to look for. It’s also easy to manipulate and Harley’s not above doing exactly that.

He stands and gently tugs Peter’s textbook out of his lap. Peter only resists for a moment before he releases the book with a put-upon sigh.

“Harley-,”

“Shush.” Harley tosses the book to the other end of the couch where it promptly bounces off the cushion and tumbles to the floor with a thud. Peter makes an unhappy noise in his throat but then Harley runs his fingers through his hair starting behind his ears and meeting at his crown and Peter’s eyes flutter closed. He sags forward as Harley repeats the action again and again until his forehead rests against Harley’s.

“Come with me. Just for a couple hours,” Harley murmurs.

Peter sighs. “We have class-,”

“Let’s not go.”

Peter sits back to frown at Harley. “We can’t skip. Finals are-,”

“Not skip. It’s… a mental health day. Even Spider-Man has to take those.” He can see that Peter’s ready to argue so he quickly continues, letting a little of the raw desperation he feels clawing at the inside of his chest bleed into his words. “Please, I need this.”

Peter’s eyes flick up to meet his.

“And so do you,” he continues. He softly brushes his thumbs over the dark circles under Peter’s eyes. When was the last time he saw Peter look anything other than exhausted? Christmas? Before that? He doesn’t remember anymore. “If you won’t take care of yourself at least let me take a crack at it. I think I do an okay job.”

“It feels wrong,” Peter whispers.

“To skip?”

Peter shakes his head and leans forward until Harley wraps his arms around him and his head hits Harley’s chest. “To- To do things. Fun things. While May is- While May’s-,” His breath hitches and he shudders in Harley’s arms.

“You know that’s not true.”

Peter nods against Harley’s chest. “But that doesn’t make it feel less true. I’m s-so scared. What if I can’t- What if she-,”

“Shhh, it’s okay.” Harley holds him tighter as silent tears soak the front of his shirt. “There’s so many people working day and night to fix this. It’s not up to only you.”

“It feels like it is. Every night I go out there and it’s only me. No one else is out there trying to figure it out. Not even the criminals are out at night anymore. Everyone’s so scared and I’m… I’m alone out there and I can’t… I can’t figure it out! Everyone’s counting on me and I can’t-!”

“You’re not alone,” Harley tells him. “You’re never alone. Miles is out there too and you’ve always got me, I promise. Even if it means flying halfway across the country to get to you or staying up until ass o’clock in the morning every night waiting for you to get back from patrolling or listening to you babble about your soaps. There’s never going to be a time I’m not here for you. And don’t even get me started on all the other people who would drop everything to be there for you.”

Peter wraps his arms around his waist and clings almost tight enough to hurt and doesn’t respond. Harley holds him until his knees ache and then for a little while longer after that.

“Are you coming?” Harley asks in an undertone.

Peter sighs and sits back to scrub at the half-dried tears on his cheeks. Harley resists the urge to slap his hands away and do it himself.

“Yeah, okay. Are you really skipping class tomorrow?”

“Yep and so are you,” Harley replies. He knows if Peter caved on going on the drive it won’t take much more pressure to get him to take tomorrow off as well and good God does he need a day off.

Peter frowns at him. He looks like shit. The pale white of his face only accentuates the red rimming his eyes and the heavy bags beneath them. His hair is greasy and flat and there’s patchy stubble growing in across his jaw. His lips are chapped and they stick to his as he pulls back after kissing them.

“Let me take care of you,” he whispers, cradling Peter’s tired face between his hands. “Let me try.”

Peter searches his eyes, for what? Harley doesn’t know, but he must find it because he nods then leans forward and kisses him back.

~*~

The city is silent as they pass through it. Harley weaves easily through what little traffic there is until finally, they cross the city limit and he can pick up speed. Once he starts pressing down on the gas pedal it’s hard to let up. He wants out. He wants to take Peter and whisk him away to somewhere safe and carefree. Somewhere they can be happy. Somewhere they can be together, just Harley and just Peter, and not worry about sick loved-ones or surviving college or saving the world. Such a place doesn’t exist, he knows this, but it doesn’t quell the need to run that clogs his throat and settles thick over his tongue like motor oil.

Peter is silent in the passenger seat, eyes hooded as he blankly watches buildings flash by more and more sporadically as they get farther away from the city. His fingers are interlaced and sit unnaturally still in his lap. The streetlights wash him in pale white light, briefly turning him into a ghost over and over as they pass.

Harley presses the gas pedal closer to the floor.

Once they’re in the country proper Harley breathes a little easier. There aren’t any streetlights out here. There’s no traffic. No buildings. No people. No mysterious illnesses. It’s only the two of them and the road and the moon overhead lighting their way. He ignores the speed limit and resolves to drive until his gas tank is empty. It’s nowhere near the first time he’s driven this route so he knows exactly how far it’ll get them.

After a while, Peter reclines his seat and turns to face Harley. He can feel him watching him and sure enough, when he looks over he finds Peter’s dark serious eyes regarding him studiously.

One hand on the wheel, he traces his fingers down Peter’s forearm until he finds his hand and then intertwines their fingers and brings the back of Peter’s hand to his lips. A smile flickers across Peter’s lips and the hard knot in Harley’s chest loosens.

They’re going to be okay. They’re going to figure this out and they’re going to fix everything and they’ll be okay. They have to be.

~ **Peter** ~

Peter wakes up when the engine cuts out. He sits up with a start, adrenaline flooding his veins as he prepares himself for the next bad thing in a very long line of bad things. Or maybe it’s all been one long, drawn-out very bad thing.

“Hey,” Harley says, completely calm in the driver seat.

Peter blinks the sleep from his eyes and relaxes as he realizes they’re parked at a gas pump. “Hey,” he grunts.

Harley kisses the side of his head and says, “Be right back,” before getting out and walking around to Peter’s side of the car to pump the gas. Peter waits in the car for a handful of seconds before realizing he’d much rather be with Harley. He opens the door and a sharp gust of wind nearly tears it from his grip. He grits his teeth and steps out of the car into the chill spring air.

“You can wait inside,” Harley tells him, apparently surprised to see him.

Peter ignores him and wraps his arms around his middle to fend off the wind. Everything under the gas station awning is lit in blaring white light but the world beyond is dark and unknowable. He wonders how long he slept if the moon is no longer in the sky. It’s quiet out here. Not like how the city’s been quiet the past few months, dying and scared spitless. It’s a peaceful quiet, filled with the buzz of the lights overhead and the chugging of the gas pump and the faint chirping of birds in the distance. If he focuses he can hear the rasp of an unseen wheat field rippling in the wind, a steady drip from a leaky pipe, and Harley’s unwavering heartbeat. He can’t hear another living person. Not one.

“Hey,” Harley says gently.

Peter hadn’t realized he’d closed his eyes but he opens them now and finds Harley standing in front of him and regarding him with careful contemplation. “You good?”

Peter steps forward and Harley opens his arms to him without hesitation. Peter sinks into his embrace and it’s like coming home after a long day. A long month. A long year.

“I’m not ready to go back,” he admits. The city is smothering in it’s silence and he can’t stand it. He doesn’t want to go back. He’s not ready.

“Me neither,” Harley says.

Peter leans back so he can see his face. “Yeah?”

Something like shame washes over Harley’s features. “It’s a lot, isn’t it?”

“It is…” He continues to study Harley until the gas pump cuts off and Harley turns to put it away. “I’m sorry,” Peter blurts.

Harley pauses and considers him. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“No, I just…” Peter bites his lip and looks down at his scuffed and dirty Converse. “I feel like I’ve been a bad boyfriend.”

Harley scoffs. “Are you serious? You’re not- Don’t worry about that stuff right now. Okay?”

Peter looks up with a frown. “But-,”

“No, I’m serious,” Harley interrupts, taking both of his hands and giving them a squeeze. “Don’t tear yourself up over dumb shit like that. We’ve got enough on our plate without all that, don’t we?”

“What do you mean?” Peter asks, heart sinking. “What are you trying to say?”

Harley shoots him a look. “Stop that. Listen to me. This is important.”

“I’m _listening,”_ Peter says, irritation coloring his tone, “but I don’t _understand-,”_

“I love you, Peter,” Harley says forcefully. He puts his hands on his shoulders and says it again. “I love you. You’re so much more to me than my boyfriend. You’re my best friend. My… my fuckin’ _lab partner._ You’re so interwoven into my life I don’t even know what it would look like without you in it. I don’t give a shit about- about going on dates or finally getting past third base or whatever it is you’ve got in your head that makes you think you’re not doing enough. _I don’t care.”_

“Harley-,” Peter sighs.

“Ah ah!” Harley shakes him a little and Peter glares. “I’m not done. You’re working your ass off and I see that. I would never ask for more than you can give. The dates and all that can wait until things are less crazy. We’ve got time. I like dragging your ass out of bed every morning. I _like_ waiting up for you every night and hearing about your patrol. I like hearing you sing songs from toddler shows in the shower and while you’re pouring cereal or tinkering in the lab. That other stuff doesn’t matter as long I still get all the rest.”

“You do so much for me but I feel like I don’t give back hardly at all,” Peter says in a rush before Harley can cut him off again. He feels tears inexplicably pricking the back of his eyes and his throat goes tight. He swallows thickly and presses on. “It’s not dates ‘n stuff. It’s- it’s little things, every day, all the time. You’re always looking out for me and I love that, but I just… I feel like I should be doing more.”

“The scales will tip,” Harley says, matter of fact. “You’ve got so many things pulling you all over the place and you’re tired and stressed so I’m going to help you any way I can. Someday it’ll be my turn to be hanging on by a thread and you’ll be the one holding me together. Don’t… Don’t worry out about this, okay? The very last thing we need is more stress. Let’s just… get each other through this and then if you want to take a harder look at our relationship you can and I’ll be with you 100%. Okay?”

Peter sniffs. “Okay,” he says quietly.

Harley folds him into his arms and rests his chin atop his head.

Another gust of wind tears at their clothes and Peter tucks his face into Harley’s shoulder. “I love you too,” he murmurs into his sweater.

Harley kisses the top of his head and holds him a little tighter.

They get a hotel room for the night. Harley promises that they aren’t running away or shirking duty by not going back to New York. He tells him to think of it as a mini vacation. Peter tries but it feels a lot like they’re hiding from their problems. Maybe they are, he thinks as Harley wraps him in his arms and kisses the side of his neck, but maybe that’s not such a terrible thing.

“I’m so tired,” Peter murmurs against Harley’s bare shoulder. He doesn’t mean physically, even though he is that too. He’s tired in his bones, in his soul. He’s so fucking tired.

“So rest,” Harley tells him, simple and succinct. “Then tomorrow we’re going to get back up and try some more. Okay?”

Peter releases a slow breath of air and buries his nose in the smooth skin on side of Harley’s neck. “Okay,” he agrees.

Harley strokes his hair and begins to hum a simple uncomplicated tune that burrows deep into Peter’s mind and tugs on a forgotten string. It feels warm and safe like home. It’s familiar, but before he can figure out where he’s heard it before, the steady rolling tide of exhaustion that’s been rising within him for weeks catches up with him and he goes under.

~*~

Peter wakes up warm and sheltered in the protection of Harley’s arms feeling anything but well-rested as his phone vibrates incessantly on the nightstand. The glowing red numbers on the alarm clock blur and distort until he rubs his eyes, wiping away the sleep. It’s only been four hours since they laid down and his phone is still vibrating. He reaches around Harley and blindly slaps his hand around the top of the nightstand until he finds the hard plastic. He swipes at the screen until the buzzing stops and then brings it to his ear.

“’Lo?” he mumbles. Harley snuffles and pulls Peter tighter against his chest.

“Spider-Man?”

The fog of sleep instantly clears from Peter’s mind as his adrenaline spikes. He checks the caller ID and curses himself for not checking earlier. _‘DD’,_ the screen reads.

“Daredevil,” Peter greets belatedly as fear bloats inside him. “Did something happen?”

Harley stirs but Peter strokes his hair and he stills once again.

“Not exactly. Who’s with you?”

“No one,” Peter blurts.

“I can hear-,”

“No one you need to worry about,” he corrects. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Daredevil is silent so long Peter worries he was too hard, too demanding. He could hang up and leave Peter high and dry and there’d be nothing he could do about it. Peter releases a breath.

“I’m sorry,” he finally says. “It’s been a long… year. The person with me, I trust them. You can too.”

“But you don’t trust me,” Daredevil says.

Peter hesitates. “If it was just me I think I could trust you, but it’s not. Keeping my identity secret isn’t to keep me safe.”

There’s a silence on the other end of the line until finally Daredevil says, “I understand,” and Peter can tell by the way his tone softens that he truly does. Who does the devil of Hell’s Kitchen love? Who is he protecting by remaining nameless and faceless? “I’m chasing a lead and wondered if you want to join me.”

Peter’s heart rate spikes and he glances at the clock. “Now?” he asks. He doesn’t even know what town they’re in or how long it’ll take to get back to New York. They drove for hours last night but he’s not sure how much of that was winding and meandering through country back roads and how much was putting distance between them and the city. If he had to guess based on the way Harley’s shoulders gradually leaked tension the longer and faster they drove, he’d say they put in a lot of distance.

“Tonight,” Daredevil says. “Meet me at Fogwell’s in Hell’s Kitchen. Ten ‘o clock.”

“Do I get to know what the lead is or am I just supposed to jump when you say jump?”

“I’ll explain tonight. It’s a lead on Fisk’s location.”

“Alright,” Peter allows. There’s no point in picking a fight with Daredevil. It’s enough to know it’s progressing them towards ending all of this. “I’ll be there.”

“Good,” Daredevil says and then the line goes dead.

Peter sighs and lets his phone fall to the sheets.

“That was hot,” Harley murmurs, startling him. His eyes are closed but a small smile is curling his lips and he pulls Peter closer. “Like it when you mouth off to badass vigilantes known for putting people in the ICU.”

Peter snorts. “You heard what he said?”

“Mmhmm. What time is it?”

“Almost noon.”

Harley hums and presses a kiss to the underside of Peter’s jaw. Peter’s breath catches in his throat. “Then we’ve got time before we need to head back.”

~*~

[Visit May in hospital after returning from drive. Technically visitors are no longer allowed, but the staff know Peter so they make an exception. Hospital is a nightmare. Short-staffed. Overfilled. Beds in hallways. People crying, yelling, emotional. Even in May’s room with the door shut they can hear the chaos outside. They overhear a couple of nurses talking about how the first people to be infected are starting to die one-by-one. It scares the hell out of both of them. They sit with May for a while in sickened, terrified silence but it’s too much for Peter. He steps out to get a drink and when he comes back he hears Harley speaking quietly to May. Peter peeks into the room through the cracked open door and sees him holding her hand much the way Peter had been before.]

“I’m doing my best. Takin’ care of him like I promised. And you were right. I’m not the quittin’ type even if it didn’t matter in the end. He came back all on his own.” He falls silent, lips pursed as he stares down at their hands. Peter waits awkwardly just outside the door for another beat. He almost walks in, but then Harley speaks, looking up at May’s unmoving face with a quiet intensity that stills Peter’s feet.

“We’re gonna fix this,” he says. “You said you could see how hard I was tryin’ and you said you had faith in me. Well, I get it now and I realized I’ve got faith too. You’d be so proud of him, May. He’s stepped up and he’s tryin’ so hard and I-” Harley’s voice cracks. “It’s scary seeing him take the weight of the world onto his shoulders but I’ve never met anyone half as stubborn as that nephew of yours. I swear he could change the color of the sky just by deciding it ought to be different. If anyone can figure this thing out it’s him and I’m gonna do everything I can to help him him get there.” He takes a shaky breath and clasps her hand between both of his as he leans close and says, “We just need you to hang on a little longer. Don’t you quit on us, May Parker.” His breath hitches and his voice is choked as he whispers furiously, “Don’t you dare quit.”

Peter knows Harley and May connected while he was in the Spiderverse, but neither of them have been forthcoming about what they shared. Peter’s picked up bits and pieces (quoting the Little Rascals to each other, Harley’s newfound love of jello, their shared hatred of that one song they always text each other about when it comes on) but this quiet moment is the most Peter’s seen of what it must have been like for them and it steals his breath away.

He pushes the door open the rest of the way and Harley looks up at him with tear-filled eyes that he hastily wipes but Peter’s already there cradling his cheeks and wiping the trails with his thumbs. He wants to tell Harley that May’s not a quitter either. That she’s strong. That she’s always been his rock: when his parents died, when Ben died, the first time Spider-Man couldn’t get there in time… the second time… the third… She’s always been there for him. She’s always helped him get back on his feet when he thought he was too tired to stand. She’s no quitter.

But he can’t get the words out. Instead, he pulls his chair up against Harley’s and they sit hip-to-hip leaning against each other with May’s cool limp hand held by both of them—Harley’s hand under her palm and Peter’s curled over the top.

Eyes stinging with unshed tears, Peter eventually finds his voice. “We got you, May. Rest for now. It’ll be time to get back up soon. I promise.”

~*~

On the way to meet up with Daredevil Miles finds him. He’s frantic, terrified. In a rush, he tells Peter he followed his uncle and found out he’s working with Fisk, but he was noticed and is being followed.

That’s when the Prowler catches up and attacks Peter.

Miles has been staying with his uncle while his parents have been hospitalized and he’s noticed he’s been acting really shady so he followed him. Turns out he’s working for Fisk and he led Miles right to Fisk’s secret lair but then Miles almost got caught and he thinks he might have been followed and he’s freaking out because his uncle is a straight-up super villain and he can’t fight him he can’t.

The Prowler catches up then and attacks Peter. “Hide!” Peter tells Miles and Miles immediately turns invisible while Peter tries to figure out how to fight Miles’s uncle without hurting him while Miles watches. Oof.

Peter had been on his way to meet up with Daredevil and Miles caught up to him right outside of Hell’s kitchen. So really it shouldn’t be a surprise when suddenly Daredevil comes raging into the fight. “Don’t kill him!” The Prowler can see Miles through infrared vision and Daredevil can “see” him with his hightened senses. Peter is the only one who can’t see Miles although his Spidey sense warns him when he’s in danger. Finds way to force Prowler to stop using infrared viz.

Peter has to think fast to convince DD to pull his punches. “We need him! He’s connected to Kingpin!” It has the opposite effect? And DD goes full bore and takes him down?

“Uncle Aaron… Are you gonna kill me, Uncle Aaron?”

“M-Miles? Oh. Oh God.” Takes off mask.

“I helped you once Spidey. Remember? I told you I had a nephew in the city and didn’t want those crazy alien tech weapons here. I wanted to keep him safe, remember?”

“Mr. Criminal!” Peter exclaims.

Aaron’s face flickers between expressions before he says, “Yeah, that’s me.” flatly. “The point is, I can help you again but you gotta promise me somethin’.”

“You’re not really in a position to be making demands.”

“It’s not a demand and it’s not for me. Not really. It’s for Miles.”

That catches Peter’s interest. “What is it?”

“Take down Fisk. Put him away forever in one of those secret Avenger-level prisons or kill him. I don’t care but he needs to get out of this city. He’s got too many connections to be allowed any kind of contact with anyone. He… He’s made threats.”

Peter’s blood goes cold. “About Miles?”

“No… but yes. My brother. Miles’s dad.” Miles sucks in a sharp breath. “He’s a cop. You know how easy it is to kill a cop and make it look like an accident? Or pin it on some low-level thug? He won’t stop there. The way he operates he takes out everyone you’ve ever cared about. And I’m not the only one he’s keeping in line by threatening loved ones. You gotta remove him entirely or he’ll come crawling back one way or another. No jury will convict him and no judge will put him away. It’s gotta be you and your Avenger buddies or he has to die. That’s the only way this works long-term. That’s the only way Miles stays safe.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ **Harley** ~

Breakthrough with portals! It’s not what Peter wanted. They haven’t managed to breach the divide between universes, but they can jump around in their own.

“Told you I was gonna crack teleportation. Now you've got no excuse.”

“Well... The name still sucks.”

“Nope fixed that one too. What do you think of Iron Legacy?”

Shit. It's good.

Working hard to update Harley’s suit with the portal equipment and make a portal gun inspired by Portal (the video game). They’re almost done when Pepper goes into labor.

“Go. I can finish this.”

“You’re sure?”

“Don’t be an idiot. She needs you. I got this.”

“Will you tell Peter?”

Harley hesitates. “Later, yeah. Don’t want to distract him while he’s with Daredevil.”

~ **Miles** ~

Uncle Aaron leads them to Fisk… and Doc Ock, Tombstone, and Scorpion. He’s in way over his head, but Peter and DD are doing good… until they aren’t.

~ **Peter** ~

Peter’s terrified of Fisk. All he can think of is how Other Miles’s Peter was killed by Fisk. It’s crippling. He doesn’t want to leave Miles without a mentor. He doesn’t want to leave Harley to soldier on without him again. He doesn’t want to leave Aunt May all alone. Tony, Pepper, Ned, MJ… He’s got too many people whose hearts he’d break if he died now. He can’t. He can’t let Fisk end him.

Overwhelmed. Miles is in danger. Calls Mr. Stark for backup only to find out Pepper’s in labor. Mr. Stark tells him he’s deploying the Avengers to his location and asks if he needs him.

No. No, they can figure this out. He should be with Pepper.

There’s a commotion in the background and then Mr. Stark laughs and tells him backup will be there before he knows it and to hang tight.

Disconnects call and not even a minute later, Harley portals into the room in his Iron suit.

“Heard you could use some backup.”

“Harley,” Peter breathes. “You figured out the portals.”

“Tony helped.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Harley says quietly.

“Oh my God remind me later to tell you about my theories on Han being force sensitive.”

“…no.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harley falls. Or flies. Or a little of both. Can’t get enough air in his lungs to yell for Peter. He dropped his portal gun. He’s going to hit the floor.

Finally remembers that his suit can fly and kicks on the flight stabilizers

Can't breathe. Takes off helmet. Throws up. Peter knocks out baddie and rushes to Harley. Harley tearing off suit. Can't breathe. Doesn't let Peter touch him. Eventually, Peter gets him to lay on his back and focus on the solid concrete under him.

"Harley look at me."

He does and sees baddie over Peter's shoulder, not knocked out after all. Doesn't think, just points his palm and fires a repulsor blast straight into Scorpion’s chest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later…

"It's stupid."

"It's not."

"It IS though. When I was- The water tower fell on Tony during the whole Mandarin thing. I was fine, totally out of range of that mess, but I saw the whole thing. And then after, I kept... dreaming about it. Only I was on it when it fell. It always felt so real. I could picture it perfectly. The way the town looked from way up there. And then it would start to tip and I'd get that swooping feeling in my stomach and..." He shakes his head. "It's stupid. They were just dreams but now I've got a whole-ass phobia."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They kick ass. DD asks if they should kill Fisk. Problem solved, you know? Peter’s not chill with that but sees the logic. Entertains the idea for a moment. They’re all torn, tempted, until Miles puts his foot down and says no.

Everyone lives. Everyone’s badass. All the super villains get taken away by S.H.E.I.L.D. and escorted by Black Widow and Captain America himself.

S.H.E.I.L.D. clean out the warehouse or whatever and collect the contagion thing that caused the outbreak to take back to their scientists to engineer a cure.

Peter and Harley make sure Miles and Aaron are okay to head home and that Miles feels safe with him.

They book it to the tower where a mid wife is delivering baby (hospitals are full and aren’t safe anyway)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm just waiting for the day you accidentally call him dad."

Peter blinks. "Harley, I haven't called anyone dad since I was four. That's not... That isn't something I'd ever say on accident."

Harley pauses thoughtfully. "You know what? Same. I don't think the word Dad is even in my vocabulary anymore."

Peter's heart flips in his chest as a slow smile curls Harley's lips and mischief lights his eyes as he meets Peter's. He's unfairly gorgeous when he's like this.

"What?"

"So since we're agreed that it won't happen on accident... Should we make it happen on purpose?"

"What? You mean call him dad?" Peter wrinkles his nose. "Is this gonna be like the mural? You just want to see if he'll cry."

Harley shrugs. "He'll love it, but yeah I'm aiming for more emotional sabotage. He can handle it. What do you say? You in?"

Peter bites his bottom lip to hold back a smile, but it doesn't work. "Yeah let's do it. Should we warn Pepper?"

"Absolutely not."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bouncing Baby Morgan arrives with the fanfare of Spider-Man and Iron Legacy stumbling into the tower out of a portal and nearly crushing Tony when they appear nearly right on top of him.

After they call him dad and he gets all teary…

"Look who finally decided to show, Morguna. You ready to meet your big brothers?"

Now it’s Peter and Harley who get emotional.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cure

May wakes up. Needs PT after being bedridden so long. She’ll recover, but may not ever regain the stamina she once had. Hazards of getting this sick at her age. (Should she have been in the tower’s med bay this whole time? Not the regular old hospital? ~Plotttt HOOOOOLE~)

Soft moment with May, Harley, and Peter. Family. Love. Her boys.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miles visits. Parents are good. They’ll get to all go home soon… Wherever that is. Had to give up lease on apartment. Stuff is in storage.

Gives May idea to start F.E.A.S.T.. She’s loved being a nurse but maybe it’s time for a new direction. A better way to help people.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All the schools in Queens, Hell’s Kitchen, and Brooklyn had to close when the outbreak reached its peak. Unfortunately, Cooper Union is in Midtown which hasn’t been hit as hard so Harley and Peter are still stuck pulling double-duty. There was talk of converting classes to online courses if it comes to that but so far Midtown hasn’t suffered as much as other boroughs. (Classism who?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After everything, Peter and Harley go back to school for finals and everyone… EVERYONE… is weirdly nice and accommodating.

Of course they know. They’ve known for months that Peter’s Spider-Man (the tardies, disappearances, and injuries that all correlate with Spider-Man working nearby gave it away. Not to mention Harley’s nonchalance and their visible deterioration in mental health as the Spidey sightings increase and finals approach). They aren’t _dumb._ They’re busy and maybe it took longer than it would have if they weren’t all stressed and busy, but they got there in the end.

And of course, everyone knows that Harley’s Iron Legacy. That one was handed to them.

Their professors each pull them aside privately and check-in with how confident they feel in taking their finals and ask if they’d like an extension to give them more time to study. The more friendly ones offer private study sessions, but every single one is very obviously ready and willing to go to bat for them so they can finish out the semester on a strong note. Peter and Harley assume they’re doing this for everyone because of the outbreak.

They’re New Yorkers and these past months have been terrifying. They all know Spidey’s been working his ass off for months trying to fix things and despite the final showdown happening far away from prying eyes, the news somehow leaked who the key players were and who they have to thank for saving the city.

Enforce theme: NYC brass & elite will always find reasons to hate Spidey, but the _people_ of NYC love and respect him bc they know he’s out there going to bat for them. And now the students and faculty know how much Spidey’s commitment jeopardizes his personal life and that love and respect increases ten-fold. Trinity was the first to put the pieces together way back in November after Peter came back from the Spider Verse and Spidey returned to crime fighting.

* * *

**Original Outline (to help make sense of that chaotic mess)**

  * Outbreak in Queens! - Happens during finals - only a week before Harley and Peter are supposed to leave for Rose Hill for Christmas
  * May is busier than ever at the hospital and doesn’t do much of anything besides work and sleep - Peter worries about her when he remembers that things exist outside of finals and patrolling to try and find the cause of the outbreak. He switches exclusively to the Iron Spider suit since it has a built in respirator that filters the air so hopefully he won’t contract the disease.
  * Harley ends up going to Rose Hill without him. Peter can’t leave NY when it’s in crisis. Harley struggles hard with whether to stay or go but ultimately decides he’s not much help to Peter anyway so he might as well keep his promise to Mama and Abbie and turn up for Christmas
  * Christmas is nice but Harley doesn’t really feel as present as he wishes he was. Half of him is always thinking about New York. About Peter. And quietly worrying.
  * May gets sick
  * Peter gets a call from the hospital that May never showed up for her shift and they’re worried. He goes to the apartment and finds her passed out on the kitchen floor.
  * He calls an ambulance and then calls Harley. Too calm, too quiet. Or panicked disaster?
  * Harley hates that he’s so far away. He hates that all he can do is promise to be there as soon as he can. He calls Tony and tells him to meet Peter at the hospital and
  * May is stable but in the same comatose condition as all the other infected people
  * Peter doubles down on trying to locate the source of the outbreak but it’s no use. He doesn’t know enough and he’s just swinging in circles
  * The outbreak spreads to Brooklyn despite NY’s best effort to contain it.
  * Both Miles’s parents get sick (police officer and nurse)
  * The city is hurting bad. People in public service roles are dropping like flies and hospitals are over capacity with half their staff occupying beds. Cops, health care professionals, sanitation workers, and teachers are hit the hardest.  
S.H.E.I.L.D. comes in and try to bench Spider-Man. They imply that it’s his fault it got this bad. That he should have stopped it. Peter doesn’t disagree, but he doesn’t quit either. He can’t. His city is suffering. His aunt is suffering. Miles’s parents are suffering. They need Spider-Man.
  * Schools close. People are advised to stay home as often as they can. Businesses close. People pack up and leave the city. People are evicted and forced to live on the streets when they can no longer pay their bills because they lost their job due to their employer closing their doors or leaving the city. It’s hell. Peter feels responsible but what more can he do?  
Harley says something that gets Peter thinking and then he does something sort of crazy. He’s always been aware of the other vigilantes in the city but they’ve never interacted. They all have pretty clear territories under their protection and there hasn’t been any reason to shake that up (Also they’re kind of intimidating). Peter tracks down Daredevil and asks to team up and share intel. For the sake of the city they’ve got to figure this out and working together just might be the way to crack the case.
  * Daredevil is reluctant to say the least but eventually Peter wears him down by appealing to his need to protect Hell’s Kitchen.
  * Daredevil has way more connections than Peter does (lol okay mr avenger) and it makes him feel like a child running around playing pretend at being a superhero but he swallows his pride and shares what little information he can contribute
  * They don’t get very far with it but it feels like progress and gives Peter something resembling hope that they can figure this out. The biggest thing is that Daredevil knows that Alchemx is behind the outbreak he just doesn’t know where their secret lab is or where Fisk is hiding.
  * Peter’s grand idea is to have Tony and Harley try to create the portal into the spiderverse (which Tony has already been working on just for fun and because he thinks that it could crack the code to teleportation) and ask Gwen, Peter B., and Miles2 if this has happened in any of their universes. He shares this idea with Daredevil which leads to a lot of questions about the multiverse and Peter basically having the Avengers in his back pocket.
  * Then Miles comes to Peter in a panic. He’s been staying with his uncle while his parents have been hospitalized and he’s noticed he’s been acting really shady so he followed him. Turns out he’s working for Fisk and he led Miles right to Fisk’s secret lair but then Miles almost got caught and he thinks he might have been followed and he’s freaking out because his uncle is a straight-up super villain and he can’t fight him he can’t.
  * The Prowler catches up then and attacks Peter. “Spidey hide!” Peter tells Miles and Miles immediately turns invisible while Peter tries to figure out how to fight Miles’s uncle without hurting his uncle while Miles watches. Oof.  
Peter had been on his way to meet up with Daredevil and Miles caught up to him right outside of Hell’s kitchen. So really it shouldn’t be a surprise when suddenly Daredevil comes raging into the fight. “Don’t kill him!” The Prowler can see Miles through infrared vision and Daredevil can “see” him with his hightened senses. Peter is the only one who can’t see Miles. Finds way to force Prowler to stop using infrared viz.
  * Peter has to think fast to convince DD to pull his punches. “We need him! He’s connected to KingPin!” It has the opposite effect? And DD goes full bore and takes him down?
  * Mr. Criminal leads them to Fisk… And Doc Ock, Scorpion, and Tombstone
  * They’re quickly overwhelmed and Peter calls Mr. Stark for backup only to find out that Pepper’s in labor and Tony’s unreachable.
  * Harley comes through a portal and tells them the Avengers (minus Tony) are coming. (Has to get coordinates from Karen for portaling there)
  * Tony didn’t figure out how to make a portal between universes, but he did figure out teleportation… sort of. He made a portal gun. He designed it to work long-range based on coordinates and Harley tweaked it to also be able to fire entrance and exit portals (based on the game Portal) for short-range (within sight) travel.
  * The catch is that organic matter gets a little… squished when it goes through unless it’s completely encased in a suit that can with-stand the pressure inside the portal. Harley’s suit can do this and so can the Iron Spider suits.
  * They kick ass. DD suggests killing Fisk. Problem solved, you know? Peter’s not chill with that but sees the logic briefly considers but Miles puts his foot down and says no to everyone’s relief.
  * Everyone lives. Everyone’s badass. All the super villains get taken away by S.H.E.I.L.D. and escorted by Black Widow and Captain America himself.
  * S.H.E.I.L.D. clean out the warehouse or whatever and collect the contagion thing that caused the outbreak to take back to their scientists to engineer a cure.
  * Peter and Harley make sure Miles and Aaron are okay to head home and that Miles feels safe with him and then they book it to the tower where a mid wife is delivering baby (hospitals are full and aren’t safe anyway).
  * Bouncing Baby Morgan arrives with the fanfare of Spider-Man and Iron Legacy stumbling into the tower out of a portal and nearly crushing Tony when they appear nearly right on top of him.
  * EPILOGUE!?  
Cure  
May wakes up  
Miles goes home with his parents  
Babysitters Harley and Peter



**Author's Note:**

> And that's it! Idk if this was valuable to anyone but I'm glad it's out there if only for my own peace of mind lmao
> 
> Come follow me on tumblr @sarah-sandwich!


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